ihmjj of Wonptw. 






■Aviy/if^JPl.. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




U~. /£}*/?&% N 



yv' 33. 



THREE ARTICLES 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM, 









rv 



A BIBLE SPIRITUALIST. 




BOSTON": 

CROSBY ^INTZD NICHOLS, 

1863. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by 

T. B. HALL, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



2-3^1 



1 



PRINTED BY FEED ROGERS, 
152 Washington St. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The first two of the Articles published in this little 
volume, are reprinted, with slight alterations, from the 
"Monthly Religious Magazine" for June and August, 
1862. The third Article here added, is substantially a 
reproduction of one offered for publication in the same 
Magazine, but not then accepted, and the manuscript 
subsequently lost. 

In willing, but cautious obedience to promptings 
which have thus far led him to the beginning, and 
successful accomplishment, of many things, often small in 
themselves, but serving for an experience to strengthen 
his faith, the writer of these Articles has adopted this 
more permanent form for their publication ; and he now 
sends them forth to the world, with an earnest prayer, 
that they may acconrplish something of the good, for 
which alone, he humbly hopes, they have been written. 

It seems proper to add, that the Writer has never 
been a reader of the leading productions of other pens 



lv INTRODUCTION. 

upon the topics here treated. He has never read a 
word in the voluminous works of Swedenborg, or of 
any of his disciples. Neither has he read any of the 
writings, with the exception of a. few poems, from the 
pen of the Eev. T. L. Harris, and that school of 
Spiritualists. His knowledge of Modern Spiritualism is 
wholly from his own careful, earnest study, and search, 
into its various phases, in a deep conviction that there 
must be a, mighty truth concealed beneath all the strange 
phenomena, which would well repay the labor of inves- 
tigation. He speaks wholly out of his own experience. 
How far he has been repaid for his patient research, 
may perhaps be left to the determination of the reader, 
who is desired to peruse the articles carefully, in earnest 
seeking for the truth ; and especially to discover, and 
make known, any hidden poison which so many con- 
scientious persons are ready to insist lies concealed in 
any, the best possible phase, of Modern Spiritualism. 
The chief ends sought to be reached in these articles, 
are : — to show that there is a true spirituality underlying 
the whole subject; — to point out briefly the conditions, 
and explain the difficulties, which have made necessary, 
the otherwise strange method of its development, out 
of which all the while is working, in ways as yet little 
comprehended even by those who have been admitted 



INTRODUCTION. V 

into its deepest mysteries, the sure fulfilment of things 
declared in the Scriptures ; — then to show, by brief allu- 
sions, the great wants of the modern Christian Church, 
which cry aloud for something that shall give a new im- 
pulse, a new life to its stagnant faith ; — and last, but 
not least, to declare that Modern Spiritualism has come, 
not to deny, but to confirm, not to break down, but to 
strengthen and establish in our minds and hearts, the 
teachings of the Holy Book, the inspired Word of God, 
by a new inpouring of the Holy Spirit, amounting, in its 
fullness, to a new Dispensation. 

Thus the three Articles here published seem to com- 
plete the preliminary presentation of a subject, which will 
be exhausted only when Time is lost in Eternity. 

Boston, January 1, 1863. 




Father, I thank Thee ! Jfiay no thought of mine 
Swerve from the path of duty, and of love, 

To Thee, and all mankind. 
Help me to know Thee as Thou art, 
Give me a loving 1 , true and faith-full heart, 
Oh, let me do my humble part, 

In serving Thee ! 




MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



ARTICLE I. 

" The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipper shall worship the 
Father in spirit and in truth." 

It matters not whether we adopt the theory that this 
globe has, from its infancy to its present state, pro- 
gressed out of chaos by separate acts of creation, un- 
der the fiat of the Almighty ; or whether we believe 
that the process of growth has been one of develop- 
ment out of the life principles so impressed, upon the 
new world at its birth, that time could not go on 
without their unfolding, gradually, according to a law. 
The great fact is admitted by all, independently of 
these theories of growth, that there have been what 
are conveniently called creative epochs in this world's 
history, which are distinctly marked, as divisions of 
time, though their precise beginning and ending have 
eluded, the research of the best of our science. There 

was a time, we know, when this earth, now so beau- 
1* 



10 MODERN SPIRITUALISM, 

tifully clothed with vegetation, was bare of all grow- 
ing things. So there must have been, and was, a time 
when this vegetation began to creep over the earth's sur- 
face. There was a time when there was no animal life 
sustained by breathing the earth's atmosphere, and there 
was a time when animal life had its beginning. There was 
a time, too, when man was not, and a time when he began 
to people the earth. These epochs have come gradually, 
not only in reference to the whole process of the earth's 
development, but, judging from all we can learn by scien- 
tific investigation, and from all analogy, each epoch has, 
in itself, been the subject of a gradual introduction and 
growth, and a gradual decay and disappearance as it has 
given way to its succeeding epoch ; or rather seems to 
have been the foundation on which the epoch succeeding 
has been built up. Each new epoch has sprung into 
being, not complete and full grown, but from germinal 
besfinninars that have found their life and sustenance in 
the ashes of the past ; each successive epoch furnishing, 
in its ashes, material for a higher growth in the scale 
of being. 

These epochs have proceeded in regular series, and the 
last so-called act of creation was the coming of man. Of 
man's beginning we know nothing. Far back in the 
East we discern glimmerings of light upon the questions 
when and how the human race begun its career upon 
earth ; but they are merest glimmerings, and con yey to 
us nothing more than the beautifully simple record of the 
Bible, that God created man in his own image, and he 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 11 

called their name Adam. Through what vicissitudes of 
life, what changes and varieties of condition, what growth 
and refinement, physical and spiritual, this race of beings 
has been brought to its present development, cannot be 
stated in any brief compendium. That this world is, 
however, progressing as heretofore, to some higher con- 
dition, and that the beings who are ultimately to inhabit 
it will rank higher in the scale than its present occupants, 
is inevitably inferred from all analogy, and is received by 
all Christians at least, if not by all civilized people, as an 
event which awaits only the sure fulfilment of prophecy. 

No wise man will dare to say that, even in his lifetime, 
there may not be developments promising things yet to 
be, which were never dreamed of in his philosophy. VTe 
know not when to look for the signs of the comins: great 
change, though we perhaps do know through the Chris- 
tian dispensation, what the signs shall be, when the great 
change approaches. That it will be gradual, we argue 
from analogy, — that it will come silently, without proc- 
lamation, "like a thief in the night," we believe from 
revelation. 

It is but a few years since the American public were 
surprised and amused with the tidings of what was first 
known as, the " Rochester Knockings." By most persons 
the story was entirely disbelieved, and deemed unworthy 
of a second thought, much less a sober consideration. 
From that little beginning, what a strange progress and 
development the thing called Spiritualism, be it true or 
false, has attained ! Subjected to ridicule the most sar- 



12 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

castic that could be invented ; to examinations and tests 
of as various kinds as there are variety of conceits 
in the human brain ; explained, over and over again, 
by as many different theories as learned minds to ex- 
amine, — theories frequently militating against each other, 
so that the defender of the cause can often find his best 
arguments in the mouths of those who think to condemn ; 
the most educated classes of the community, with old 
Harvard at their head, arrayed in opposition ; the Church 
issuing its anathemas against it with a bitterness that, 
had it been sustained by public opinion, would have 
brought the early votaries of Spiritualism to a fiery stake ; 
little understood, often entirely misunderstood, used and 
abused in every conceivable way, still the glaring fact 
remains, that no cause, moral or intellectual, civil or 
religious, physical or spiritual, ever made such progress in 
securing the attention, and the more or less enlightened 
faith, of men, than this same cause of Spiritualism. Its 
active opponents seem to have pretty much given up their 
fruitless attempts to stop it, and to have sunk back from 
their labors, seeking consolation in the thought, that, if it 
contained no truth, it could not prevail ; they have left 
it, where indeed they found it, in God's hands, to man- 
age according to his own wisdom and high behest. The 
result is, as far as our observation goes, that the commu- 
nity is divided upon this subject into two large classes ; 
namely, those who believe in Spiritualism, in the broad 
acceptation of the term, and those who do not believe it, 
but think there must, or may be, something in it. The 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 13 

number of those who utterly reject all its facts and phe- 
nomena as trickery, is too small to be named as a class. 
Such a subject demands something more than an occa- 
sional notice from the pen of journalists, in the ordinary 
course of comment upon matters that may interest the 
public. It is, therefore, with no wish to write a passing 
criticism, or merely to offer a readable article, that we have 
undertaken to present our views upon Spiritualism ; but 
from an earnest desire to help others to know something 
of a mighty cause, through the highways and byways of 
which we have been laboring in the search after truth. 
Like all pioneers, we have had our experience, which 
ought to be of value to those who may desire to know 
the truth like ourselves ; and if we can point out any of 
the dangers, the rocks on which some poor mortal's bark 
might otherwise be wrecked, we shall feel that we have 
done some good, whilst we do humbly trust that, as we 
seek God's blessing on our work, there may be other 
more positive fruits of our labor. Perhaps what we 
have to write might be called, the "Confessions of a 
Medium ;" not confessions of our own sins, though God 
knows we have fallen into errors enough, but confessions 
of the wonder-workings of an all-wise Father, who rules 
these things, as all others, — confessions of a deep ex- 
perience, that has awakened our spirit to new life, and 
leads it to pray daily that it may be so privileged of God 
as to do its humble part in bringing his kingdom upon 
the earth, in seeing to it that his will be done here, even 
as it is done in heaven. We write what we do know, 



14 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

not what we have heard others tell of. We would be 
humble as a little child, seeking the truth, with God's 
blessing on our prayers. 

It is about ten years, a little more, since our acquaint- 
ance with Spiritualism began through David Hume, of 
whose medium qualities most persons have heard some- 
thing. The subject was new then, and people would not 
believe their senses. Upon his departure for Europe, he 
was playfully called "Hum-bug." But those who win 
may laugh ; his powers, whatever they were, opened the 
way for him to the inner chambers of the man who, of all 
men of this day and generation, has ranked, and still 
ranks, the shrewdest, sharpest, the veriest juggler, whom 
nobody would deceive, and whom nobody could find out. 
This man, the present Emperor of the French, with wit 
and capacity to detect fraud equalled by few, and with 
position and power to punish it when detected, without 
appeal, did not, could not, find the key to Mr. Hume's 
wonder- workings, except in the explanation which the 
phenomena have ever claimed for themselves. Before 
his departure, we had many opportunities of meeting Mr. 
Hume in private circles and family gatherings, which 
offered every chance for testing the reality of the phe- 
nomena, so that we became fully convinced that they 
were no ocular delusion, no mistake of our senses, and 
perhaps might be, what they purported to be, the works of 
spirit power. It is enough here to say of them, that they 
combined a variety of physical manifestations, mind-read- 
ings, and what purported to be spirit communications, 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 15 

which is not often found in any one medium. He left 
us wondering; and we looked round for other proofs, 
other mediums, other exj)erience. 

Having advanced so far as to believe in the actuality 
of the phenomena, doubt not, reader, we soon found our- 
selves in a very sea of perplexities, and that we were 
often tempted to give up our inquiry in despair. But re- 
membering that we were pioneers, we determined to 
brave all hazards, to meet all difficulties, for the sake of 
truth. Our first great trouble was, that Ave had ever 
attached to the word "Spiritualism" a sense of some- 
thing high and holy ; whilst we found neither in the me- 
diums, nor in the phenomena, any special characteristic 
that marked the high, or the holy ; for they partook of all 
degrees, from the highest of Heaven's blessed truths to 
the lowest of Hell's horrors. It seemed to us then that 
the wrong term had been used, and that it should have 
been Spiritism, or Demonism, in the original sense of 
demon. And this was, after all, the most natural ; for if 
the good spirits could come to bless us, why could not 
the bad ones come to plague us ; or if the low could 
come, why not the high ? God works by general laws 
and special providence, in Spiritualism, as in all other 
things. 

. Satisfied so far, still we found ourselves continually 
perplexed, sometimes beyond endurance, by the absurdi- 
ties, the contradictions, the follies, nay, the wickedness, 
that broke out upon the community under the guise of 
Spiritism. With what gratitude did we receive the book 



16 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

published in 1855, by Rev. A. Mahan, President of Cleve- 
land University, entitled, "Modern Mysteries Explained 
and Exposed." Weary and worn with our labors, 
ready to sink in the turmoil of doubts that surrounded 
us, we welcomed that explanation, incomplete though we 
knew it to be, as sufficient to furnish a retreat wherein 
we might at least have some rest. He did not pretend to 
deny the facts of the manifestations, which we knew 
could not be denied, and so gained our willing concession 
to his theory of " odilic force." It was sheer fatigue that 
enabled us to find any rest in this poor shelter ; but it 
sufficed to give us a moment's respite, only to renew the 
inquiry with increased earnestness, determined, with our 
own good-will, and in God's own time, to find the truth 
which we felt assured must be waiting to rejoice those 
who would strive after it. " Knock and it shall be opened 
unto you," " Seek and ye shall find," were blessed words of 
encouragement, which seemed to bring us a new strength. 
Seeking the truth only for the truth's sake, we trusted 
that God would guide us, and guard us, through all our 
deviations from the true path. We prayed to him, that, 
if there were truth in these things, we too might know, in 
our own experience, the mysteries of mediumship.- We 
asked that we might know in our own consciousness, 
through external or internal sense, the actual presence of 
the spirit world about us. At last the answer began to 
come. We became sensible of slight touches upon the 
head, as though a hand were gently passed over it. We 
had not expected this manifestation, and at first doubted 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 17 

it ; but frequent recurrence of the sensation, often under 
circumstances that caused us much surprise, proved that 
it was not the work of our imagination, but a real toucli 
from some body or thing, some power or spirit, that thus 
informed us of its presence, and was perhaps communi- 
cating some mysterious influence. 

It is unnecessary to describe the stages of development 
through which we have passed. Suflice it to say, that, 
though yet far short of the goal, if indeed there be any 
limit, we have been carried, sometimes quite imperfectly, 
into enough phases of mediumship to give us an under- 
standing of all these things from our own experience. 
Each day as we have advanced, the importance of prayer 
has been urged upon us, and we have felt its power won- 
derfully in guiding our search for truth, and saving us 
from the errors committed by others who have not known 
the wonder working of a true appeal to the Great Father 
of all spirits. Especially have we been saved from too 
rapid development, which has so often led men to com- 
mit follies that have brought ridicule, and sometimes dis- 
grace, on the very cause they had most at heart. In this, 
as in all other subjects that may interest and occupy the 
human mind, too much, or too sudden knowledge, topples 
the reason, and opens the way for folly to enter in. We 
have often thanked God in gratitude for the reply made 
through a medium to our earnest prayer for develop- 
ment : " You shall have the truth as fast as you can bear 
it ; for if it should come as fast as it could be given, it 
would craze your brain." 



18 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



We have spoken of passing through certain stages of 
development imperfectly. By this we learned that, whilst 
such forms of mediumship have their use, particularly for 
the purpose of introducing Spiritualism to the world's 
notice, they are not the highest forms. We believe that 
the highest form of mediumship is that where the individ- 
uality of the medium is the most developed and the most 
active, so that the medium's self, being a spirit in the 
body, may draw directly from the spiritual fountains of 
God's eternal truth and power, as mankind has generally 
believed the spirits of the departed would be privileged 
to do, according to their spiritual deserving and capacity. 
In other words, the highest mediumship is what has been 
heretofore vaguely known as inspiration, and sometimes 
called genius. We mean inspiration in its broadest sense, 
in every kind of knowledge to which the human mind has 
been permitted to give expression. Religious inspira- 
tion, in its various phases ; the inspiration of the fine arts, 
music, poetry, painting, sculpture ; the inspiration of the 
mechanic arts in all the phases of invention ; the inspira- 
tion of the philosopher ; the inspiration of what is often 
called plain common-sense. They all flow from the 
same source, — God's great fountains of knowledge. As 
Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. 
All knowledge exists in spirit life before man slowly 
elaborates it for external expression on this earth plane, 
and the degrees of so-called genius are marked by the 
varying capacity to receive and express it. This idea 
is involved in the word impression, so often used by 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 19 

men in their eveiy-day business affairs. They have " im- 
pressions " so and so ; sometimes against the convictions 
of their reason. Where do these impressions come from ? 
What are they ? They are the result of influences from 
spirit life that surround every human being, that " cloud 
of witnesses," of which we read in Scripture ; and they 
will be of a higher or lower character, exactly according 
to the spiritual condition of each individual. God works 
through agents more or less directly. The spirits in the 
spirit world are the messengers which bear tidings of 
good, and of so-called evil, to every one according to his 
desire and capacity to receive. As this desire and capac- • 
ity to receive depends, under God's blessing, upon each 
individual will, so each one of us has to work out his own 
salvation in very truth. But not without aid : the power 
of prayer is mighty ; the Father of spirits will send us 
such influences as we truly ask for. Ask, and ye shall re- 
ceive, — even the desired presence of the blessed spirit of 
Jesus. 

This principle of individuality is one of the most impor- 
tant teachings of Spiritualism, though, we admit, nothing 
in itself new, and offers, at the same time, the simple ex- 
planation of one of the serious difficulties in the way of 
the public acceptation and acknowledgment of the reality 
of spirit presence and power. It is the first and last ob- 
jection of the educated classes, that Spiritualism has given 
to the world so little, if anything, neio in science, or in- 
deed in any of the ordinary matters that have heretofore 
occupied the educated mind. It is true that very little 



20 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

has been given to common mundane science, in distinct 
propositions, through ordinary mediumistic communica- 
tions, and it is for the reason, now beginning to be under- 
stood, that when God permits the spirit world to draw 
close to the earth life, he does not intend that the spirits 
out of the form shall assume all the responsibilities, do all 
the thinking, perform all the labors, bear all the burdens, 
of those in the form. Such a course, if permitted, would 
have directly taken away man's accountability ; his indi- 
viduality would be gone ; and so experience has taught 
very many inquirers that they cannot long act with 
safety in matters of worldly interest under the sole di- 
rection of mediumistic communications. The cause of 
Spiritualism has seemed to suffer, as unbelievers have 
had opportunity to point the finger of ridicule at the 
sad and absurd errors committed by Sjfiritualists, who 
have been working out this result of their experience, 
earning this wisdom for their own, and the world's 
benefit. It is only when the medium's own spirit is 
developed, so as to receive impressions direct, that he can 
with safety act them out through his own enlightened 
mediumistic consciousness ; but even then the prompt- 
ings must ever be brought to the bar of conscience, 
God within us ; whilst the reason must sit in external 
judgment to determine pure questions of external pru- 
dence and policy. We must ever, as St. Paul says, " try 
the spirits," that we " may prove them." 

At the risk of some repetition, we will endeavor to 
explain more clearly what may perhaps be called the 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 21 

philosophy of mcdiumship. When the man of so-called 
genius finds new ideas crowding into his brain, it can- 
not be said that he makes them. All the result of the 
scholar's study is to bring the mind into condition to 
receive the thoughts that are ever waiting for admission, 
when the mind is ready and able to accept and compre- 
hend them. It is no mere play of fancy, when the poet 
begins his labor with an invocation to the muses. It is 
an act of preparation, to lift the poet's spirit into a con- 
dition to receive the poesy that is ready to flow in upon 
him. The most hard-headed philosopher must be in 
what he would call, the right spirit, or he cannot think 
(receive thoughts) effectively. A genius, then, and there 
are as many kinds of genius as subjects to occupy the 
human mind, is the medium through whom the ideas 
floating in the spirit world, existing in the spirit life, are 
given external expression, so as to be more or less com- 
prehended by the minds of others. The man of genius 
gives expression to the thoughts which are given to him, 
and commits them to paper. They are printed in a 
book. This book in turn becomes the medium for the 
transmission of the ideas to the ordinary reading minds, 
which, on their part, must be developed to a condition able 
to receive the ideas, or the words read are hieroglyphics 
without meaning. The man of genius gets the ideas by 
inspiration from the world of spirit ; the ordinary man 
of talent must wade through the printed pages, and 
receive the same ideas by slow induction, word by word. 
Precisely as the man of genius receives, and gives ex- 



22 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

pression to the ideas which are given to him, so Spiritual- 
ism teaches vis, truth is handed down by gradation from 
the central fount of eternal knowledge and truth, through 
the various conditions of spirits in the spiiit world, who 
jDrogress and rise from one to another of those " many 
mansions," each nearer to the source of direct inspiration. 
Now spirit mediums, as commonly recognized, are sup- 
posed, by outside observers, to be the mere instruments 
used, or purporting to be used wholly by other spirits for 
purposes of manifestation and communication. The fact 
is that there are all degrees of mediumship, from this 
entire absence of the medium's self, to the complete 
inspiration, where the medium's consciousness and indi- 
viduality are in full action. They are mediums in this 
latter case as much as in the former ; the difference being 
that, in the latter case, the medium's own spirit uses its 
own organism to express the inspiration which is given 
to it more or less directly, whilst in the former case, 
another spirit controls the medium's body, and is itself 
the communicator of thoughts, to which it has been 
receptive, and now seeks to express. We believe that 
those mediums will give to the world the most new 
things, and the highest truths, whose individuality is 
never lost, and is in the highest state of development. 
Of course those forms of mediumship which only afford 
tests of spirit presence, resulting in the identification of 
friends who have passed on, are desirable, if not indis- 
pensable, to satisfy the preliminary inquiries of those 
who begin by being either curious, or anxious, to know 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 23 

whether the world of spirits is really so near this earth 
as it professes to be. But these tests are given quite 
independently of any consideration of the medium's own 
development. Indeed, the most remarkable tests some- 
times have come through those of low condition, phy- 
sically and spiritually. These tests are given in a great 
variety of forms. A very striking form is in the appear- 
ance of the names of departed ones, in letters of red on 
the arm ; a phenomenon which has astounded many 
hundreds of persons, as shown in two mediums recently 
in Boston. This class of mediums has been, and still is, 
essential to the introduction of Spiritualism to man's 
notice and comprehension, — it began with table tipping 
and rapping, the first rude alphabet of communication, — 
it will disappear when it has done its work. Already 
many mediums who have been used only for tests are 
losing their powers, or falling off into neglect. 

Let it not be supposed, however, that the tendency 
of Spiritualism is solely to intellectual development and 
manifestation. In accordance with the spirit of this age, 
it has found its introduction to the world's notice, in a 
great degree, through the intellectual faculties and purely 
intellectual observations. It could not have been intro- 
duced in any other way to a people like the American 
nation, which had become so eager in the pursuit of 
material prosperity through intellectual development, 
that the nation's heart has needed its present fearful 
awakening under the hands of an all-wise Providence, 
which, in our belief, is but the beginning of a mighty 



24 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

struggle for dominion between the powers of good and 
the powers of evil, that is yet to sweep over the face of 
the whole globe. This consideration leads us to the 
higher, or what in common acceptation would be deemed, 
the more spiritual development of Spiritualism, which is 
now gradually unfolding to the wonder and delight of all 
its truest advocates. 

Whilst it is admitted that an equal development of 
heart and head are necessary to make the perfect man, 
we believe that the heart must be first cultivated, or the 
head cannot receive true wisdom. Without an under- 
standing of the heart, the knowledge of the head is full 
of errors that lead the spirit to its ruin. This is no new 
proposition ; the philosophy of it is simple. True heart 
development brings that peace of mind which fits it, the 
mind, for the highest intellectual conceptions, makes it 
receptive to the highest truths. Yet the nations who 
boast of their Christian civilization have ignored it, and 
set up intellectual idols that have received their souls' 
devotion for six days in every week, and been hardly 
forgotten in the midst of their would-be sacred ob- 
servance of the seventh. Wonderful has been the intel- 
lectual and material progress of the nations, and par- 
ticularly of this people, during the past century ; but is 
it not true that spiritual culture and development have 
been retarded, if not retrograded, in the same degree ? 
Witness the practical results ; see, for example, the utter 
selfishness of the trading, commercial classes. With few 
exceptions, every man of them is striving, with his 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 25 

whole soul, to find out, not how he can help his neigh- 
bor, but how he can get ahead of him. Alas, for such 
Christian followers ! We fear the Founder of their re- 
ligion would hardly recognize his disciples among them. 
But this is no place for a homily upon the sins of the 
nations. We should shrink from such a task under any 
conditions ; to catalogue them only would be a fearful 
undertaking, for their name is legion. 

The feeling that true Spiritualism should have some- 
thing, if not everything, to do with the understanding of 
the heart ; and the fact that it has thus far, to the view 
of external observers, seemed to have so little to do with 
it, has been one great cause of the severest opposition it 
has experienced. For reasons which we shall hereafter 
endeavor to state, it appears to us to have been necessary, 
in the present condition of the world's development, 
that the near approach and communion of the spirit- 
world should be brought to the knowledge of mankind 
in the way it has been. Believing, as the Christian 
world professes to believe, in the second coming of Jesus, 
how many are there who would be able to recognize 
him now in our streets in the humble garb of the Naza- 
rene ? The difficulties are immense in the introduction 
of any really new phase in the world's development, 
arising out of the conditions of head and heart, into 
which such new development must gradually work its 
way. We are able now to see the wisdom that directed 
events, when the infant Jesus was laid in a manger, he 
"the Prince of Peace," "the Saviour of the world." As 



26 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

time goes on, the wisdom will be recognized which has 
directed the course of Spiritualism to its present unfold- 
ing, itself but the germ of what is yet to be. 

We have spoken of our own continuous and unsatis- 
factory search after true spiritual mediumship, in the first 
years of our inquiry. We did not feel that we had 
arrived at the beginning of the truth, until, some two 
years ago, we made the acquaintance of a medium who 
had been developed as such after an anxious study of the 
Bible. This was a young person, born of true "New 
England parentage, in one of the best of New England 
homes, of large, healthful physique, with fine intellectual 
powers, a broad head and large understanding, who 
had been drawn into the cause against external convic- 
tions, as well as the wishes of family and friends ; but 
who could find happiness in no other direction, and 
alone, before God, trusting the inmost dictates of the 
still small voice, after many struggles, much wrestling 
with the spirit, had determined to go forward with the 
work, whatever it might be, so long as it did not militate 
with the highest sense of right and duty. 

This person, called a healing and developing medium, 
was not under the control of those who purported to be 
our relatives, or particular friends in the spirit world, btit 
was wholly influenced by a few choice spirits, who an- 
nounced, through their unconscious trance possession, 
that their medium had been selected as an instrument of 
great good to the world. What that good was, we did 
not at first understand; we had yet to learn it. The 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 27 

communications were addressed wholly to our physical 
and spiritual condition, and the work of regeneration 
that was to be done amongst the people. They were not 
given in tedious homilies, but came in quiet, natural sug- 
gestions, warnings, and advice, accompanied at times 
with a manipulation of the head, which had a strange 
soothing, yet invigorating power, easily and early recog- 
nized. It was indeed a healing power, and imparted a 
pure vitality, which by a mysterious process gradually 
reached the spirit within, and we felt that the old 
heathen maxim of " sound mind in a sound body," had 
a spiritual meaning beyond its ordinary acceptation. By 
slow degrees we began to perceive the refined influence 
that seemed to rain down upon our heads as we sat in 
silent waiting. Not knowing what to expect, the light 
of Heaven gradually illumined our heart, and we were 
ready to acknowledge that we could perceive a spiritual 
influx, as we sat for development, which seemed to give 
us, or itself to be, the true riches of which the Scriptures 
teach, for it brought with it, in very truth, that peace 
which passeth all understanding. This is no idle fancy 
of our own, no mere play of the imagination ; others 
have known it as well as we ; it is difficult to describe or 
explain, but when realized by experience, brings with it 
a sense of reality such as nothing else seems to give. It 
seems almost the only reality of life. 

At intervals the spirits, through this medium, would 
reason with us, as Paul, of righteousness ; but whenever 
we asked for tests, such as are given through other 



28 MODEKN SPIRITUALISM. 

mediums, they refused, for the reason that it would be a 
waste of powers which were dedicated to higher uses, 
as we have above endeavored to explain. We did not, 
we could not, accept the full meaning of this at once. 
Tempted in our progress to pursue comparatively idle 
inquiries, our prayers, and the kind words of the medium, 
saved us from dallying by the way-side. Purely intel- 
lectual investigation seemed to be for a time forbidden. 
Our business was with the heart alone. To purify that, 
to become as a little child, to sit at the feet of Jesus, and 
receive from his hands something of the Christ-spirit 
with which he was filled, this was our work, this the 
present object of life. It was (and is) a realization of 
the patriarch's dream, in which the angels, God's messen- 
gers, are eternally ascending and descending, bearing up 
to the throne the petitions of his creatures, and bringing 
back the responses of His mighty love, — responses which 
teach us to throw away selfishness utterly; to live and 
labor for others ; to dispense widely unto all ; to give 
freely, as we have freely received, these treasures of 
God's love; to so explain these things, and illustrate 
them in our lives, that they shall show forth His good- 
ness and glory. 

These lessons could not be learned till we had given 
up our conceit of knowledge obtained through purely 
intellectual culture ; and now, humbled as a child before 
God, but a man amongst men, we feel ready to begin a 
good work, rejoicing that we find the yoke so easy, the 
burden so lio-ht. 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 29 

If we are asked, how can these things be known to 
all, we say to all, high and low, rich and poor, learned 
and unlettered, gather yourselves in small circles, two 
or three together, cheerfully, but soberly, reverently, in 
the name of Jesus, pray for the light you need, and it 
shall be given to you. Let as nearly as possible the same 
persons meet at each successive gathering ; let the sur- 
roundings be fit for such communion. If the circle be 
in a family, — and where better can it be ? — let the place 
in the house be selected which is freest from contamina- 
ting influences. It would be well for the world if there 
could be a "holy of holies" in every dwelling-house, 
where the best influences could be poured down upon 
those in waiting. Let not the father of the family, the 
man of business, object that it will interfere with his 
daily avocations; it will rather give him new strength 
for all his duties. It is not for the Sabbath only, but 
every day in the week ; whilst it teaches still the true 
value and use of the great day of rest. But chief of all, 
let not the man of education, of learning, fancy that his 
time for study cannot be interrupted for these things. 
Let him rather forget his pride of intellect, and an hum- 
ble member of the circle, let him ask for that true light 
which will illumine his soul, and send its quickening rays 
into the most hidden corners of his deepest researches. 
It was in the highways that Jesus found his first be- 
lievers and disciples ; — must it be so still ? 

But be assured, that to follow these things with trifling 
curiosity is to expose one's self to the penalties of sacri- 



30 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

lege. By laws to which we have referred, you will get 
just what you seek after. Beware lest you bring to the 
inquiry too careless a heart, or a head too vain of its 
understanding. Do not, however, think that you can 
turn away and neglect these things for one motive or 
another with impunity. Your likes or dislikes cannot 
change the orderings of Providence. If the near ap- 
proach of the spirit world be a fact, then it remains a 
fact whether you like it or not. On the other hand, if 
it be true that these influences, for good or for evil, are 
around about, and so near you, it behooves you to un- 
derstand their powers and mode of action, lest in your 
wilful ignorance you suffer approaches to which you 
would not knowingly be subject. In familiar phrase, if 
you wish to know what company you keep, ever influ- 
encing your feelings, your thoughts, your actions, some- 
times much more than the friends and companions seen 
by your body's eye, look closely into your heart, for as 
that is, so shall your unseen companions be. You can- 
not escape it. Understand yourself rightly, make your- 
self what you know you ought to be, and you will learn 
to thank God for the sweet angel influences that guide 
and guard you through every hour of your life. 

Let not Spiritualism be rejected by outside observers, 
because they cannot see any good yet accomplished by 
it. Misunderstood as it has been, much silent good has 
been done that is not proclaimed aloud to the world. 
By it many doubting minds have been established in a 
faith in the future life of the spirit ; whilst many more 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 31 

have been relieved of the most depressing fears of the 
everlasting retribution, the relentless eternity of punish- 
ment, by learning that progress is the law of God's uni- 
verse in the spirit world, as in the earth life ; and the 
blessed consolation of a divine hope has given them new 
courage to try to attain a higher, better, holier condition, 
according to their capacity, and not according to the 
dogmas of their theology. Still more good has been 
wrought out of Spiritualism, through the very errors of 
its early converts. Good has come out of the wrongs 
committed under the name of Spiritualism, by showing 
the sad inefficiency of the Christian Church of this day. 
"We say it not in unkindness, but in sadness ; we say it 
not of any particular denomination or sect : it is true of 
all, as out of all have come those unhappy victims of 
their own weakness, who have, in the name of Spiritual- 
ism, thrown off the cloak of religious observances under 
which they had concealed the rottenness of their hearts 
from the world's knowledge, if not from their own, and, 
availing of the assumed authority of false teachers and 
prophets, have in their actions confessed their little faith. 
It is a fearful proof of the want of true Christian grace, 
of vitality in their faith, that so many professors of the 
religion taught by Jesus, have been so easily led astray. 
Let them not make recantations, and lay the blame on 
Spiritualism, for it is but their own sins which have found 
them out ; they may rather thank God that anything has 
come to show them their spiritual condition. 



89 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



Angels are about us, the spirit world has, in this nine- 
teenth century, been brought near to the earth life to 
mingle its influences for good, or for evil. Not, as it 
would seem, by an entirely new. law ; for these things 
hare been before; but to an extent, and in a manner, 
which indicate, and are proclaimed as showing, a new 
dispensation in the providence of God. Exactly what 
this new dispensation will unfold is not for man to know 
yet, but that it is ushering in one of those great epochs 
in the progressive history of the earth and its creatures, 
to which we have in the beginning referred, we do 
believe. Far be it from us to presume to reach too far 
into the plans of the Almighty; but it is our solemn 
conviction, that these things do announce that second 
coming of which the Scriptures teach. The condition of 
the earth and its people, the signs of the times, indicate 
this more than ever before ; whilst the near presence of 
the spirit world brings with it holy influences which 
must elevate and spiritualize all of earth's creatures who 
will receive them, and, as good is ever stronger than evil, 
will, sooner or later, drive off into outer darkness all who 
wilfully reject and oppose them out of the ignorance, or 
the wickedness, of their hearts. If GoaVs holy angels 
can and do so come, why may not the blessed spirit of 
Jesus come too ? Has he not come already ? Is he not 
in the midst of us even 71010, and toe know him not? 

Mat, 1862. 



ARTICLE II 



" Behold, I make all things new." 



Having endeavored to show that there is a true spirit- 
uality underlying the external expression of Modern 
Spiritualism, we would now try to remove the chief 
obstacle which has prevented many conscientious persons 
from finding out this inner life, by explaining the origin, 
growth, and present state of the antagonism between 
intellectual, and pure spiritual culture. This branch of 
the inquiry may not be interesting to all readers, but 
we deem it indispensable that it should be thoroughly 
examined, and fully comprehended, before the more edu- 
cated part of the community, as a whole, can be in con- 
dition to receive the truth. "We would reiterate, that 
we write wholly from a desire, under God's blessing, to 
give to others the light which has been given to us ; 
understanding that what we have to say cannot of itself 
persuade, but only make others receptive to the in- 
fluences which God is ready to pour in upon all who will 
open themselves to the "flowing in of his spirit of love 
and truth." 

Nothing is more marked in the history of opinion, 
whether relating to the commonest interests of every- 
day life, or to the most abstruse problems of scientific or 
2* 



34 M0DEEN SPIBITUALISM. 

metaphysical inquiry, than the disposition of mankind to 
incline to extremes ; on the one side in their tenacity of 
things already established, and on the other side in their 
correction of acknowledged errors. Discovering their 
mistakes slowly, men are apt to adopt views directly 
opposite to the old ones, and for that reason full of new 
error. Whether this arises from a laudable desire to 
find the truth, and hold it firmly when discovered, or 
whether it has its origin in man's weak conceit, leading 
him to assume the right and power to fix the limits of 
knowledge, and declare out of his own mouth the law, 
to the conception of which he has slowly attained, is a 
question which we believe might be carefully considered 
with much profit to self-sufficient humanity. The fact 
is admitted by all ; and the leaders in these opposite 
positions are deemed the extremists of their time, and 
properly so considered, whether they are on the side 
of progress or conservatism. Few, however, are able, 
though recognizing the fact, to attain a position nearer to 
the truth ; whilst most are content to flatter themselves 
by pointing out the extreme views of others, and pro- 
nouncing judgment on them even to foolishness. 

Of all extremists none are so unhappily placed, at least 
for their own advantage, as those who are on the side 
of conservatism ; their case is almost hopeless. The ex- 
tremists of reform are ever moving on to new thoughts 
and new life; making mistakes enough in their self- 
anointed conceit, but still getting lessons in their ex- 
perience which their conceit would not let them learn by 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 35 

the gentler processes prepared by God for the teaching 
of those his children who are willing to humble them- 
selves first before him, in prayer for such light as he will 
vouchsafe to give them in his own time, and in his own 
way. Alas for the extremists of conservatism ! They 
never try to rise ; they wish for nothing new, no matter 
how much for the better. They remain, as they suppose, 
firmly fixed on everlasting truth ; till suddenly they dis- 
cover that the foundation on which they rested has 
rotted away, or become too weak for the superstructure ; 
and from being the most comfortably secure, they find 
themselves the most uncomfortably insecure of all the 
world. Inevitably they either float off without sails, 
without rudder, without compass, into a turbulent sea of 
doubt and distraction ; or, as the old ties give way, they 
swing violently to the other and directly opposite ex- 
treme, yielding themselves to a mixed rule made up 
largely of temper and selfish chagrin, though its true 
character may be concealed from themselves by their 
declared and acknowledged desire to do as nearly right 
as they can. Their motive may seem to be good ; but 
they were extremists in their conservatism, and they 
are become extremists in their new light. We have 
remarkable instances of this in the political relations of 
the American people at the present time, when the most 
ultra conservatists give expression to violent sentiments 
which fairly leave behind many of those whom they 
formerly decried as dangerous, if not unprincipled reform- 
ers. The same thing may be seen in all the relations 



36 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

of life, if we will observe them carefully, even in the 
most insignificant matters. 

It is not to be expected that men should be otherwise 
affected, and experience shows that they are not, in mat- 
ters regarding their religious and spiritual interests. A 
few centuries ago, the civilized world was wholly subju- 
gated to the Church, which had usurped to itself all au- 
thority over the minds and hearts of men, so that both 
in mind and heart man's individuality was lost. In 
knowledge of temporal things he became a child ; and 
whenever the spirit world and its influences came near 
him, he fell at once into blind superstition, which culmi- 
nated, at different intervals among the nations, in the 
various phases and terrors of witchcraft. 

This assumption of the Church, arrogating to itself all 
knowledge, all power, in things temporal, and in things 
spiritual, though under the name of spiritual rule only, 
led to the Reformation of the seventeenth century. 
Breaking from the thraldom in which he had been held, 
man rushed into the arena which he found world-wide, — 
nay, limited only by the limits of his own capacity. Not 
all at once did he obtain freedom from church rule. 
Even now it is far from complete in things purely spirit- 
ual ; for the dogmatic theology of Protestantism has at 
times held, and does in some directions now, well-nigh 
hold, in spiritual things, the very supremacy which led to 
the outbreak of the seventeenth century. But the old im- 
pulse, the return pendulum-swing of opinion started by the 
Reformation, continues ; and, believing that the old error 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 37 

was, in yielding a blind obedience to tbe rule of those 
who pretended to act wholly under spiritual guidance, 
and thus made distrustful of all things pui-ely spiritual and 
cognizable first, if not wholly, by the heart, man still is, 
as he has been, for the last two or three centuries, going 
to the other extreme, and letting intellectual forces take 
the lead and control of his development. The result is a 
disposition to doubt everything not the subject of abso- 
lute independent intellectual conception, and this has led, 
in different nations and at different periods, to conditions 
fatal to his highest spiritual development. In France, it 
reached a climax in the fearful reign of Reason, and the 
bloody scenes of her great Revolution. Throughout all 
Europe it has resulted often in a miserably unspiritual, if 
not wholly Godless materialism. In our own country 
the tendency has been to a materialism, not Godless, but 
wholly unspiritual. The intellectual conception of the 
God principle has been retained, and he has been permit- 
ted to reign abstractly through such laws as science has 
been able to investigate ; but he has been a God of the 
head only, not of the heart. The tendency has been to 
recognize his power in the world's creation, and perhaps 
in the daily orderings of the world's life, but to ignore 
and deny the possibility of a spiritual relation between 
man and his Creator, other than man's ever-varying con- 
ceptions of his attributes. 

In struggling to escape from the thraldom of the old 
church, man has succeeded so far as to be no longer sub- 
ject in temporal things, and to a great extent in spiritual 



38 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

things, to its dominion. We see comparatively little of 
the old superstitious relation between the priest and the 
people. But in denying the authority of the Church, 
and exercising his own thought upon spiritual things, 
man has been carried to the opposite extreme of inde- 
pendence, and come to rely wholly on his own strength, 
forgetting that there was a God behind the Church, 
whose ]30wer, whose love, the Church had arrogated to 
itself, and therefore lost its influence. Nay, the indi- 
vidual man has fallen into the very error which has led 
to the destruction of the Church's power, and consti- 
tuted himself as the Church, with all knowledge, all 
power. As surely as the Church has lost its high posi- 
tion and power, so surely must individual man be hum- 
bled before the true, the only Church, which is of Christ. 
" It may or may not be a matter of regret," said an ob- 
servant preacher, recently, " that church organizations 
seem to be crumbling ; the great fact is left, that, where 
two or three are gathered together in the true Christ 
spirit, there will always be a true Church." He might 
have added, there only has the true Church ever been. 

Still, progress is the law ; and from this extreme intel- 
lectual development has come the power to resist the 
tendency to superstition in spiritual things which was 
almost unavoidable during man's thraldom to the Church, 
— a power without which he would not have been able 
to bear the recent advent of spiritual phenomena. The 
want of this power is even now shown in many individ- 
uals, who from mere fear are unable to api^roach the sub- 



MODERN SriKITUALISM. 39 

ject of Spiritualism, as presented in the more striking 
physical manifestations, though few are bold and truthful 
enough to themselves and their fellows to acknowledge 
their weakness. The old church superstition is not all 
worked out of them, though they little suspected it till 
these recent strange things forced them to show the fact 
in their actions, if not in words. A few of these timid 
ones try to persuade themselves that their fear is a proper 
fear of trenching upon sacred ground, an unwillingness to 
pry into the things upon which God has set the seal of mys- 
tery. But these either deceive themselves as to the fact, 
or their feeling is but another form of the old superstition 
which taught that the priest alone could know the ways 
of God. Let them remember that Christ died for all 
men, and to all men is it given to penetrate the very 
depths of spiritual things, if they will become worthy to 
be so blessed. To him that asketh, if it be in the right 
spirit, it shall be given. To him that knocketh in the 
name of Jesus, it shall be opened. 

Believing, then, that out of this intellectual freedom 
has come to most men of this day and generation the 
ability to bear the approach of spirit phenomena, so far 
as to examine them without falling into the old su- 
perstition of witchcraft, we would endeavor to show 
more particularly how. this has been brought about; to 
explain the working of the elements of head and heart, 
mind and spirit, which have heretofore held such antago- 
nistic relations, and thus to reach, if we can, the true 



40 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

philosophy of this branch of the subject. We ask the 
candid reader's careful attention. 

Thought and spirit are real things. They have sub- 
stance, refined, as compared with material things, even 
up to sublimity ; still they are real, substantial existences. 
It is difficult for us to come to a conception of this idea, 
this fact ; and perhaps it is sufficient for the present to 
recognize them only as forces, of substance too ethereal 
and sublimated to be cognizable by the senses of the 
body, yet living forces. Now it cannot be denied that, 
since the Reformation of the seventeenth century, it 
has been the ever-increasing tendency of Protestantism 
to give unlimited sway and supremacy to intellect, and 
to reject all phenomena, all manifestations, which could 
not be discerned through the ordinary avenues of in- 
tellectual conception, and recognized through the or- 
dinary channels of external sense. Thus, by the delib- 
erate exercise of his will, the forces of man's intellect have 
been held in direct and successful opposition to the 
forces of his inner or spiritual life. The idea of spirit- 
ual discernment, as understood in the days of the Apos- 
tles, has been utterly repudiated, as having no possi- 
ble place in our wise-thinking heads, and any suggestion 
of such a possibility in these days utterly rejected. Here 
is a plain, direct antagonism between subjects of external 
intellectual conception, and things of the spirit, to be 
spiritually discerned. From this antagonism has arisen 
the difficulty, especially of educated people, in receiving 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 41 

spirit manifestations, whether of the purer and more re- 
fined, or of the grosser kinds ; there being as many 
degrees of refinement among spirits, as mansions to 
receive them in the spirit world. The more men have 
been educated in the schools of the day, the greater has 
been their difficulty as regards these spiritual things. 
Too great confidence in their intellectual acquirements, 
or, to speak in plain terms, though not in unkindness, 
then' self-reliant intellectual conceit, has repelled, or 
made impossible, all direct approaches from the spirit 
world. Herein we find the key to what has heretofore 
been considered the mystery of faith. There are three 
conditions to which the idea of faith has relation. First, 
entire disbelief; second, indifference as to belief, or mere 
willingness not to reject ; and, third, active belief. In 
these three conditions are the three degrees : first, direct 
antagonism of the intellectual forces against the spiritual 
forces; second, a mere suspension of hostilities, with 
more or less of a guard to watch the enemy ; and, third, 
the open receptiveness, the glad welcome to all the gifts 
and graces of the spirit, with all their accompanying 
blessings as they are worked out into external, or more 
material expression, on the earth plane. 

There is no new law in these conditions. It prevailed 
equally in those early days when the Holy Spirit was 
manifested on earth in the form of Jesus. It was 
amongst the ignorant fishermen that he, the Nazarene, 
the carpenter's son, found his first disciples ; simple- 
minded men, who had nothing to unlearn, and little, if 



42 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

any, intellectual antagonism to overcome. The educated 
men of his day would not receive him. To the fisher- 
men it was enough for him to say, " Follow me," — whilst 
it required a miraculous intervention to reach the heart 
of Paul. So, too, in the more external workings and 
expression of the spirit power, what might be called 
the more physical manifestations of spirit, wrought out 
through Jesus, the same law prevailed ; and we are told 
in the Scripture record, that the want of faith, or rather 
their active disbelief, the intellectual antagonism, pre- 
vented a certain district of the Jewish people from 
beholding the wonder-workings of the miraculous power. 
Ova r\SvvaTO ZxeT oOide/ilav diva/mv ■noir^aai, el fir\^ &c, "And 
he could there do no mighty work, save," &c. ; was not 
able to do is the literal translation, as it is the only 
meaning of the original Greek, though commentators 
find great difficulty in accepting it, because of the stand- 
])oint from which they take their view.* 

By this same law of antagonism between mind and 
spirit power, have many persons been utterly prevented 
from witnessing even the grossest forms of spirit mani- 
festation in these latter days. Learned men, relying on 
the education of their heads, have again and again en- 
deavored to hear even the simple rappings, with more or 
less conscious desire and will, not to find out what the 
strange thing was, but to prove that it was not what it 

* Gospel according to Mark, chap. vi. verses 5 and 6; also 
Matthew, chap. xiii. verse 58. See note to this last verse in Barnes's 
Notes on the Gospels. 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 43 

purported to be ; and they have gone away reassured in 
their wisdom of this earth, which in such an inquiry is 
indeed very " foolishness." 

In obedience to this same law, there was a gradual dis- 
appearance, and latterly, up to the commencement of the 
rappings, there has been a remarkable cessation of all 
the manifestations, which in the days of church rule re- 
sulted in superstition and witchcraft. Appearing at inter- 
vals in the gradual decline of the Chm-ch's power, the 
fact of this final entire cessation has always been to our 
minds, until recently, quite inexplicable. Here and there, 
to be sure, we had heard of what were called haunted 
houses, and we had read of the Wesley rappings ; but 
our education had taught us to consider all such things 
as manifestations of anything but spirit power, and most 
probably as the result of deluded imaginations. Still, 
Mansfield on the English bench, and Sewall on this side, 
had soberly sat in judgment, and had condemned on the 
evidence ; and the alternative has been either to deny 
the facts and stultify Mansfield and Sewall, as indeed we 
believe Sewall, later in life, did for himself; or to admit 
the facts in some way, and wonder why such things had 
so entirely disappeared in modern times. We now \m- 
derstand that this cessation of spirit manifestations has 
been owing to the power of mental forces, held by the 
will in antagonism with the spirit forces. 

Let it be supposed, then, for the sake of the argument, 
if the position cannot otherwise be admitted by our 
readers, that, in the fullness of time, the period had come 



44 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

when the spirit world was moved through its depths to 
draw near to the earth life. How could it, under the 
condition of things which we have endeavored to explain, 
how could it signify its approach and near presence ? It 
has often been objected to modern spirit phenomena, that 
their method of expression is so mundane, so unspiritual, 
though claiming to be of spirit origin. The objectors 
have demanded that the spirits should come with gentler 
approaches, and in more ethereal guise. But it must be 
remembered that spiritual things, in what may be termed 
their more natural expression, can only be spiritually dis- 
cerned; and how, we would ask, could these spiritual 
things be discerned by a race who utterly repudiated the 
possibility of such a manifestation, and deemed such an 
idea foolishness ? Nay, how could the spiritual world 
even come near enough to be spiritually discerned by a 
people who were all the time repelling it, by the antag- 
onism of which we have spoken ? A little reflection 
shows that it was only through material signs, to be re- 
cognized by the senses of the material body, that the 
spirit world could begin to effect any approach. It was 
because the world in the flesh was deaf to the still small 
voice, that resort to the gross, or material manifestations, 
by rappings, was necessary. Even these manifestations 
owed part of their influence to, if they were not neces- 
sarily preceded by, the phenomena of mesmerism or ani- 
mal magnetism, to the laws of which recourse has so often 
been had for an explanation of the spirit j>henomena, 
which otherwise would have compelled many minds to 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 45 

admit that they were what they purported to be. Thus 
gradually, through the three degrees above named as 
associated with the idea of faith, has the antagonism been 
removed, and thus is it still being removed, and the op- 
position so disarmed, that the finer, and purely spiritual 
manifestations begin to be received by those who have 
clambered over the stumbling-blocks in their way, and to 
the spiritually-developed the things of the spirit begin to 
be opened, and by them spiritually discerned. But, oh ! 
through what struggles, what sufferings has this knowl- 
edge of spiritual things been attained. The utter re- 
pudiation of the possibility of spirit expression and com- 
munion has led to public and private persecution worthy 
of other days. Men have charged the folly, if not the 
crime, of superstition upon all the early votaries of mod- 
ern Spiritualism ; and public opinion, instead of the burn- 
ing stake, has been, and still is, the fiery ordeal to which 
the conscientious believer finds himself bound in bitter 
agony, whilst nearest and dearest friends are willing to 
add fuel to the fire, and blow the flame, till the victim 
yields his faith, or through spiritual power is raised tri- 
umphantly, like the martyrs of old, above all conscious- 
ness of suffering. 

By degrees the supremacy of pure intellectual knowl- 
edge and insight is giving way ; and, having become 
willing to throw aside their conceit of intellect, men arc 
beginning to sit down humbly before true spiritual cul- 
ture, and receive the inspirations from spirit life that have 
long been waiting to bless them, but they would not 



46 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

accept. Their intellectual development has liberated men 
from those idle fears and low conceptions which formerly- 
led to "witchcraft and its fearful persecutions ; whilst the 
same condition of development has led, at the outset of 
the investigation of modern Spiritualism, to purely intel- 
lectual conceptions of the subject, through inquiries orig- 
inating in the head, much oftener than in the heart. The 
idle curiosity, nattering itself often under the guise of 
scientific authority, which has from the beginning put the 
questions suggested by its vain conceit, has been met and 
answered in a way well calculated to put it to the blush. 
The spirit of the inquiry has been promptly met by its 
brother spirit in the spirit life ; and all by the force of 
laws which the wise in the wisdom of this earth have 
been slow to comprehend, assuming that they were al- 
ready well enough informed on all matters of spirit life, 
power, and manifestation, because they had reached to a 
comprehension of some of the laws by which its Creator 
regulates his matei'ial creation. 

It may be claimed by different branches of the Christian 
Church, that they do not deny the proper supremacy of 
pure heart culture when brought into comparison with 
the wisdom of the head, though they perhaps have not 
distinctly recognized the antagonism which we have 
shown to exist. In the Catholic Church, particularly, 
has the position been maintained, and practically carried 
out, that the danger in giving free scope to intellectual 
investigation in spiritual things certainly, and perhaps to 
some extent in temporal things, was so great, that the 



MODERN" SPIRITUALISM. 47 

popular mind could not bear exposure to it, and hence 
the argument in support of blind church rule, and mys- 
terious rites in their religious services, conducted in an 
unknown tongue by the initiated priest. So, too, with 
the dogmas of the Protestant churches, insisted upon as 
articles of faith, and involving points of doctrine which 
had been worked out by the leaders of the Church, who 
alone could be lifted up to a true contemplation of their 
inner sense ; a position of strange inconsistency for Prot- 
estantism, as recognized by all freethinkers, and justly 
rebuked by the parent church. But, passing by this 
question of inconsistency, and admitting the merit in this 
fear of intellectual supremacy, let us look a little at the 
character of the substitute offered in compensation for 
the loss of the intellectual investigation which has not 
been permitted. It is in this direction, and it seems to us, 
that the Church has deceived itself, and out of this self- 
deception that it is so powerless to put an end to the 
fearful sway of selfishness, which now rules with nations 
and individuals. So much stress has been laid upon the 
importance of articles of faith, that the masses have been 
content with holding to these, if indeed they have not 
been directly taught that these alone were sufficient for 
their salvation. Catholicism and dogmatic Protestantism 
have pointed out a danger in too independent action of 
the intellect upon spiritual things, but their position in 
this regard has been substantially a negative one only, so 
long as they.have furnished no better substitute for the 
right of free inquiry than simple obedience to their own 



48 HODEEN SPIRITUALISM. 

authority, whether expressed in blind church rule, or 
theological dogmas. Thus has it happened that all the 
while, in spite of Catholic church rule and Protestant 
dogmatic authority, the intellectual forces of men, starved 
into independent self-reliant action, have been attaining 
the ascendency each day more and more, and the an- 
tagonism of which we have spoken become established. , 

If the Church had not assumed to possess all knowledge 
and all power in spiritual things, and taken upon itself 
the resjsonsibility of true enlightenment, thus relieving 
men of their individual responsibility to know and under- 
stand their true relation to God and their fellow-men ; if 
it had not offered itself as the Mediator between them 
and their Creator, but had rather denied itself alway, 
and offered Christ as the only Mediator ; if by its own 
example it had taught men to humble themselves, each 
one, before God, in prayer for such light and such bless- 
ings as he might see were needed, and vouchsafe to send 
them ; then indeed would a good work have been done, and 
the Church of this day been entitled to a tribute of praise 
and thanks from its equally humble followers. But pride, 
conceit, and self-reliance have been its attributes, and its 
children could hardly be expected to be superior to their 
spiritual guide. The happy middle course of humble, 
prayerful, individual development was hard to find out 
under such conditions ; and few, very few, have found 
and followed it. 

We do not understand, and would not for a moment 
suggest, that the intellectual faculties of our nature are 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 49 

to be lost, or even kept in abeyance, but made subordi- 
nate to pure heart or spiritual culture, so that only true 
knowledge can, and shall, be offered to man's compre- 
hension. Then all things of the spirit shall be accepted 
by, and made reasonable to, the mental faculties, which 
will sit humbly waiting for God's movement, and not 
trusting in themselves to work out their own knowledge 
in their own way, which leadeth to destruction. The 
equal development of heart and head, the beautiful har- 
monious result of a true relation between the spiritual 
and mental forces, in which alone can be found the per- 
fect man, is yet to come ; and the grave question now 
proposed to the world is, whether the time for the estab- 
lishment of that harmonious relation is not at hand ! It 
can come in no other way than through a pure spiritual 
Christianity, such as the world has not seen yet, with the 
Christ spirit, and not human intellect, under any guise 
of creed or doctrine, recognized as the only test of a true 
church. It is then, and not till then, that the prayer so 
often on the lips of men is to be answered ; then, when 
God's kingdom shall come, and his will be done on earth, 
even as it is done in heaven. 

If it be true — and Spiritualists know it to be true — 
that messages from angel forerunners have announced the 
coming of that kingdom as close at hand, when Christ 
shall return to earth, and reign in the name of the Father, 
is it well, nay, is it safe, to pass the messengers, or the 
message, by unheeded ? If it should be that they are 
messengers of truth, are you ready, are you prepared, to 



50 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

bear the quickening power of the Spirit? Already is it 
at the nation's door. Already have the elements of war 
and fratricidal strife in this people been worked out into 
fearful expression. Be not deceived because this appears 
to have been done by natural causes. Wait not till the 
influence has penetrated to the very hearthstones of your 
homes, for there too shall its quickening power yet be 
felt, and the elements of disease and death be driven out 
into expression more fearful even than on the battle-field. 
Purify your homes, purify your hearts, purify your bodies, 
purify your lives ! Wait not for the purification which 
shall be a consuming fire. Even now does the mighty 
voice sound through the air, as heard of old by the 
Prophet of Revelations, and audible to him that hath an 
ear to hear .are those momentous words, "Behold, I 
make all things new ! " 

July, 1862, 



ARTICLE III. 

" And he shewed ine a pure river of water of life." 

Again we find ourselves filled to overflowing with 
thoughts restlessly demanding expression. Again we are 
moved by a deep heart-felt desire to communicate to 
others, would it could be to all the world, some idea of 
the rich blessing, the joy unspeakable, which we have 
received from a knowledge of things spiritual, as opened 
to us through Modern Spiritualism. We say knowledge 
of things spiritual : for it is no conventional creed ; no 
philosophical, or mystical, shaping of our human conceit ; 
no ingenuity of our poor brains. It is knowledge in very 
truth : a certainty ; an experience ; a living reality ; 
without which now, life would become to us almost in- 
supportable, the world would seem a barren waste de- 
prived of the indispensable sunlight of God's love. The 
soul recognizes and rejoices over this blessing, the richest 
in the Father's bestowal, at all times, and in all events. It 
is drawn in with every breath ; it courses through every 
vein; it moves, it leads, it guides, it guards, in every 
emotion, every thought, every action of our waking, or 
sleeping existence. It is the presence of the living God ! 
The willing spirit listens to its heart promptings, and 
child like yields every wish of its own to the gentle ruling 



52 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

of a Father's love. Under its influence, human pride 
is let down from all assumption and conceit. The soul 
recognizes in its inner sense, and its outer experience, 
that the divine guidance is ever directing and helping in 
matters seemingly the most trivial, as well as in those 
otherwise supposed to be most momentous, and so goes 
on in its daily occupation, rejoicing equally in large and 
small duties, for in all and each, it humbly feels that it 
is doing, or at least trying to do, only the Father's 
will. 

As we look into the world of life around us, we feel, 
we know, that there too, as well as in ourselves, the 
power of God, is alive and at work ; and no living 
creature, no created thing, is too insignificant to be a 
sharer of our sympathy as coming from the hand of the 
same maker with ourselves, and sustained by the same 
love. Thus no difference of external position, or sur- 
roundings ; no apparent preference or exhaltation of one 
creature above another, of one human being over his fel- 
lows astonishes or deludes us into anything like creature 
worship, or brings any the least desire to sacrifice to 
worldly pomp or circumstance. All creatures and all 
things are in their proper sphere and place, moving on 
in accordance with a mighty law of development, which 
no man can fully conrprehend. Happy those who can 
recognize the Father's guiding and sustaining hand 
through it all. Thrice happy those who can fall gently 
in with the current, and acquiescing in the wisdom of all 
things, without struggle or resistance, humbly seek the 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 53 

more to know and feel the Father's ever present protec- 
tion and care, the more the course of events, near and 
far, large and small, becomes complicated and inexplica- 
ble to their feeble comprehension. Oh, that this faith, 
this living faith could be a reality of experience to all. 
May God's blessing go with our humble effort to com- 
municate and explain to others something of this life, 
divine, so that the desire in their hearts may unfold into 
a faith that shall open them to the influences of the Holy 
Spirit. Thou knowest, Father, that this wish is expressed 
in no vain conceit of our own wealth ; that it is no fool- 
ish boast of the blessings with which Thou hast crowned 
our life. As we are true unto the truth as it is in Christ, 
be Thou unto us, and unto this labor ! 

" That the desire in their hearts may unfold into a 
faith that shall open them to the influences of the Holy 
Spirit " ! Let no one take offence at this ; but rather let 
every one inquire soberly what it signifies. What does 
it mean, that in this day of Christian development, with 
so many men and women to be found throughout this 
religiously enlightened people, who have experienced the 
movings of the spirit within, and become, in the church 
sense, reconciled unto God, and with so many more who 
have felt their inner natures touched by the divine pres- 
ence, and the secret chambers of their hearts illumined 
by a divine light, not their own ; what does this call 
mean, which says to such, and we gladly admit there 
are many such, that their faith needs yet to be unfolded, 
and their hearts to be " opened to the influences of the 



54 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

Holy Spirit " ? Certainly it is not intended to be a 
captious, fault-finding complaint, or rebuke. It is ratber 
an invitation to still further development, to a finer 
growth, a higher life of the spirit, a more complete reali- 
zation, in every day practical life, of all the blessings 
which are involved in, and spring from, the Christian 
faith ; a more abundant blossoming and fruition in those 
gifts and graces of the spirit, which in the days of the 
early disciples of Jesus were distinctly recognized as the 
natural outgrowth, as they were the visible evidences of 
a true Christian life. The highest received Christianity 
of the churches of to-day, stops far short in its practical 
outworking of the Christianity taught, and if we may 
believe the record, actually realized amongst the early 
converts, the first disciples of the humble Nazarene. And 
this without any reason, or explanation, offered or re- 
ceived ; and when referred to by some honest enquirer 
for a cause, is admitted, with the cold, insufficient com- 
ment, that those times are not these times. In other 
words, the men and women of those days, when the 
world was almost two thousand years younger in its 
development than now, are admitted to have been capa- 
ble of spiritual attainments, which we of this day can- 
not aspire to ! What has the world been about all this 
time, that such should be the comparative condition of 
those who are so apt, in all other things, to boast of their 
modern civilization ! Can it be believed, that the good 
seed sown by the Master's hand has been all this time 
germinating, the divine influence by him implanted 



MODERN SriRITUALISM. 55 

upon our earth sphere has been so long, and so widely, 
rooting, without some progress in the capacity of man's 
nature to receive, and express, a higher tyj)e of Christian 
development, than it was possible for the men of the 
early centuries to attain ; instead of our being unable 
even to equal them ! The truth is, not only that the 
good seed has been germinating, but that the natural 
man has been going through a process of decay. There 
has been a breaking down of the walls of the flesh ; 
human nature has been changing ; becoming less and less 
gross in its animal development, and consequently more 
and more susceptible to spirit influences ; and that the 
manifestations of spirit presence and power in these days, 
are uncontrovertible evidences of the fact. But we may 
be content, for the present, to rise to those spiritual 
attainments with which, the record tells us, the early 
Christian disciples were blessed. When those are reached, 
it will be time enough to aim at higher growth, and loftier 
elevations, of the spirit's life. 

The first step towards progress is the admission of 
present wants, the acknowledgment of present short com- 
ings, the recognition of something better and higher, 
which we have not yet reached. Every one admits that 
there is no condition so fatal to Christian development, 
as a satisfaction and contentment with present attain- 
ments. In order therefore that the class of professing 
Christians, to whom we have above referred, may be 
reminded how far short they are of the living faith which 
Jesus offered to his contemporaries, and by the wonder- 



56 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

fully preserved record, as well as by the influences now 
pouring in upon the world, offers unto us, we would ask 
such to put a few searching questions to themselves, 
which shall reach to the heart, without disguise of any 
sort. When these questions have been seriously consid- 
ered, they will be more willing to admit the necessity, 
and better able to receive the blessings, of a new dispen- 
sation, whose first work is to revivify the ancient faith 
which bears such stinted fruit in their lives. 

Beginning with the more visible signs of faith ; where 
do we find a professor of the Christian life in these days 
who, through his religious develoj)ment, can show, we do 
not say boast of, for they are in no sense a subject for 
pride, any of those signs, which in the words of Jesus, 
as recorded by St. Mark, " shall follow them that be- 
lieve " — " In my name," said the Master, " shall they cast 
out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they 
shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly 
thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on 
the sick, and they shall recover " ! . Who of them, we 
ask, can show a faith responsive to those other words 
recorded by St. John, "Pie that believeth on me, the 
works that I do, shall he do also, and greater works 
than these shall he do " ! Who, again we ask, can show 
any of those gifts of the spirit enumerated by St. Paul 
as the natural result and evidence of a knowledge of 
Christ, when accompanied with the gift of charity? 
How is it that none of these persons can show even the 
signs and gifts which have, in these latter days, made 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 57 

their appearance amongst so many that are not recog- 
nized as the truest followers of Christ, if indeed they are 
not often wholly without that spirit of charity, or love, 
the want of which, says St. Paul so truly, renders these 
gifts valueless. It may almost be said, that instead of 
the members of the modern Christian church showing in 
themselves any of the gifts of the spirit, they are apt to 
condemn unheard any one who seems to possess these 
gifts, as on that very account, to be excluded from the 
Christian fold ! 

But passing by these external evidences recognized by 
Christ himself as signs of those who believe in him, what 
are the inner proofs of progress in true Christian devel- 
opment to be found in the professing members of the 
modern church ? For example, how many of these have 
comprehended the meaning, and practical application, of 
the Saviour's reference to the lily of the field, as a beau- 
tiful examplar for man to copy in his daily life ? How 
many are there who begin to take no thought for the 
morrow, what they shall eat, or what they shall drink, 
or wherewithal they shall be clothed ? How many who 
really believe, and carry into practice their faith, that if 
they will seek the Kingdom of Heaven first, all those 
things "shall be added unto them." To earn a livelihood, 
to gain an independence, is proclaimed and approved as 
the great aim, the first object of every man's ambition ; 
not to find out what service his Creator would have him 
do, what field is open for him to accomplish the highest, 
greatest good ; not what the unselfish promptings of the 
3* 



58 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

spirit within would have him attain to, but what avenue 
is most open by which he can reach what his friends, 
and all the world, call success. Occasionally, to be sure, 
a young man begins his career with vague notions of 
usefulness ; but they are either soon crushed out of him 
by contact with the stern realities of life, which come to try 
him, and prevail against his better feelings, for the reason 
that he has not that living faith which can sense and 
follow, the leadings of the Spirit, and patiently leave 
results to the wisdom of God ; or he sinks in despair at 
the apparent fruitlessness of his efforts, and dies early of 
a broken heart. The pulpit does indeed insist upon the 
absolute importance of every man's loving God with his 
whole heart, being just in all his dealings, and in short 
carrying his religion into his business ; but does it suffi- 
ciently teach that a true development in Christ is itself 
a business, the first business, it may almost be said, the 
only business that peremptorily demands his attention ; 
for the Kingdom of Heaven first attained, the fruits of 
all other business shall, in natural course, be added unto, 
and crown his life with many joys. Men and women 
have yet to feel that in the performance of all the daily 
avocations of life, in every position and capacity, they 
are doing God's business, not their own! When they 
can feel this, the work of life, in all its details, will go 
on with a harmony that shall chord with the very music 
of the spheres ; for then will they have sought the king- 
dom of Heaven first, and will do their daily labor, not 
for the sake of the bread that shall be earned by it, but for 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 59 

the joy in doing the Father's will; trusting that their daily 
bread will be given to them in due season in answer to 
their daily prayer, as naturally, and as surely, as the 
elements bring to the lily of the field the food it needs 
for its daily growth, and the materials wherewith to 
weave the beautiful fabric of its matchless raiment. 

A much severer test of the development of those who 
openly and formally profess their faith in Christ, is to be 
found in their conduct at this period of national judg- 
ment and condemnation, when if ever there seems to be 
a call for all the cardinal Christian virtues, Faith, Hope 
and Charity. We feel that the leading spirit of ~ the 
great Southern Rebellion is a wicked one. We believe 
equally, that many, if not the most of the combatants 
on both sides, certainly of those who have gone forth to 
crush it with death-bearing weapons of war, have been, 
and are, actuated by their highest sense of self-sacri- 
ficing duty, and shall receive their reward accordingly. 
But do these considerations alter the fact that war is not, 
and cannot by any sophistry be made, consistent with 
the teachings of the gentle Jesus, whom they in other 
things profess to follow. Undoubtedly every man does 
right who acts up to his highest sense of duty ; but is that 
sense of duty necessarily according to the Christ-spirit 
of love, because it is the man's highest sense? The 
highest sense of duty with the ancient Jew was in exact 
retaliation, " an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." 
But Christ has taught, nay, in love commanded, " That 
ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy 



60 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

right cheek, turn to him the other also." " Love your 
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use 
you and persecute you " are the words of the Master, 
spoken without reservation of any kind. Some persons, 
a little more tender than others, feeling the inconsistency, 
have talked about laying aside their Christianity for the war, 
as they, with their short external vision, have found them- 
selves unable to see how the struggles of the day could be 
carried out to a successful issue without the recourse to 
arms ; instead of acting up to their inner sense of Christian 
duty, and leaving results to Him who rejoices more to be 
worshipped as a God of love and peace, than appealed 
to as a God of Battles. Have these persons forgotten 
how the walls of Jericho fell down at the sound of 
trumpets blown with a blast of living faith ! Have they 
never read how, more than once, the enemies of Israel 
were scattered by the interposition of divine power, 
without a blow struck by the Sword of Gideon ; and this 
long before the people were blessed with the light of the 
Gospels ! Is it not time the world began to understand, 
that if in the orderings of God's providence there is need 
of men to fight, it is because there are men whose 
progress in Christian development has not yet rooted 
out the elements of war from their natures. No pure 
health can be enjoyed by the human system so long as 
disease is lurking in the vital parts ; and as long as the 
passions that culminate in war are circulating in hu- 
manity, no matter how deep under the surface, so long 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 61 

will occasions be presented for working them out ; it 
being always the prerogative of God, and of Him only, 
to bring good out of this direful evil. 

If we are asked what we would have men do in this 
emergency of the nation's existence, we would say, let 
every one go to his God in humble, earnest prayer for 
such knowledge as shall show him his highest duty, and 
when found, do it unselfishly, with all his might. Let 
him not however deceive himself by supposing that he is 
therefore acting up to the Christ teachings, because he 
is fulfilling what he finds to be his highest duty. But 
let him rather pray the more earnestly to God that he 
may receive the true Christ spirit, and sense of Christian 
duty, the more he finds himself called to acts at variance 
with the clear, unmistakable precepts of the Founder 
of his professed faith ; for it is a thing of growth, and 
nothing short of miraculous intervention will give him 
the true sense, the true light at once. The trouble is, 
that men, having no knowledge of, and giving no recog- 
nition to the guidance of the Spirit, use their minds first 
to find out what course of conduct to pursue, and then 
go to God to ask his help in carrying out their plans of 
management ; instead of lifting up their hearts first in 
humble prayer to Him for guidance, and then following 
the lead of the Spirit with all their minds ! Thus it is 
that we have had all the while the strange spectacle 
presented, apparently so contradictory, in the civil war 
now raging, of clergy and laity on both sides, sending 
up fervent appeals to their God of battles to bless each 



62 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

their cause, which each had previously in the exercise 
of their wise self-relying heads, stimulated more or less 
by their passions, determined should be maintained and 
defended by all the arts of war of which modern Christian 
civilization can boast ! 

In another relation, one which concerns humanity per- 
haps more nearly than any other, inasmuch as every 
child that is born into earth life is fashioned according 
to its conditions, we mean the marriage relation, we 
would ask, how nearly do men and women conform to 
the true Christ life ? Is this relation conducted in ac- 
cordance with that Christ spirit which teaches them to love 
one another as little children ; and do they herein show 
forth a living faith in those words of Jesus, " Whom God 
hath joined, let no man put asunder"? The growing 
tendency in all legislation to facilitate divorce, is a short 
answer to the latter question ; whilst the former is point- 
edly met, by simply referring to the little improvement 
in the human race, both in its physical and spiritual de- 
velopment, from generation to generation, notwithstand- 
ing its changing conditions. But we have too much to 
say upon this sacred topic, to enlarge upon it at this 
time. 

Other points of view might be taken, from which a 
close scrutiny would show still further inconsistencies 
between the teachings of the Master, and the lives of his 
professed followers. Too long have these inconsistencies 
been allowed to remain unmolested ; too often have they 
given opportunity to unbelieving critics to frame argu- 



MODERN" SPIRITUALISM. 63 

ments against Christianity, which no honest man can 
answer, and no sensitive soul hear without a blush of 
shame. They have been kept too much out of sight, and 
considered too much out of the reach of modern faith to 
remedy. But we hasten to meet the enquiry, which we 
feel is pressing upon us, " What has Modern Spiritualism 
to offer towards helping men out of these admitted in- 
consistencies " ? We have been told, says the enquirer, 
from the Masters own lips, that the hardness of heart, 
which could not be touched by the sayings of Moses and 
the Prophets, would " not believe, though one rose from 
the dead " ; and it can hardly be supposed that any less 
efficacy to convert sinners is to be found in the teachings 
of Jesus, than in the sayings of Moses and the Prophets. 
" Of what avail to Christians then, this modern necro- 
mancy " ! 

An enquiry based upon such a suggestion of argu- 
ment, and it is the first suggested, the most natural, 
and the most potent argument that can be used, indicates 
the idea of Modern Spiritualism entertained by most un- 
believers, and indeed by many believers, that the whole 
meaning and value of the phenomena is, in establishing 
the fact, that the spirits of the departed do exist in 
spheres more or less near to the earth life, and in the 
accompanying joy of communing directly with them. 
The truth however is, and we would proclaim it to the 
ends of the earth, to the many Spiritualists who are yet 
groping about in search for it, and to the unbelievers who 
stand outside hardly condescending to recognize the 



64 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

simplest facts of the phenomena, much less trying to 
ascertain their meaning, the truth is, and herein lies the 
answer to the enquiry so directly put, that these new 
conditions, and apparently strange relations between the 
spirit and earth life, are chiefly important as means to a 
great end, namely the more complete opening of the heart 
of humanity to the influences of the Holy /Spirit ! Thus, 
whilst we admit that the mere raising of the spirits of 
the dead is not itself of vital importance, however novel 
and interesting, and does not of itself possess any power 
to save, we say that the influences which the spirits of 
the departed, coming with the angels of God, are now 
empowered to bring and communicate to those in the 
earth life, constitute a new element of power not before 
manifested or exercised, at least in the manner, and to 
the extent, now permitted in this the fullness of time. 
The value of Modern Spiritualism is not to be found in 
those physical manifestations which strike so many minds 
as too trivial to be worthy of the higher spirit life, nor 
in those communications, which, though often full of 
beauty and wisdom, do not inculcate any new doctrines 
of life, or in their highest reaches suggest any better 
teachings than those already handed down to this genera- 
tion in the blessed words of Jesus. No, it is the in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit, which filled the souls of the 
early Apostles, and is now waiting to be poured into our 
hearts through this channel of communication, this in- 
strumentality of God's appointment, that constitutes the 
real value, the momentous power and importance of 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 65 

Modern Spiritualism. That these things do not originate 
with man, most persons are now ready to admit. They 
are indeed of and from God. Christ cometh that all 
things may be fulfilled. Refuse not to believe because 
the manner of his coming is not in accordance with 
your expectations, or your human judgment of probabili- 
ties. Remember how the Jews stumbled, because they 
could not find in the humble Nazarene, those evidences of 
an earthly kingdom which they had anticipated. Like a 
thief in the night, is he coming ; yet like a Prince of 
Peace. Oh blessed light that shines through the dark 
cloud which now hangs over this people, with a deepen- 
ing gloom, unfathomable to the eye of reason. To the 
eye of faith, the living faith as it is in Christ, which 
can be known only through the heart, the silver lining of 
the dark shroud is visible, and a divine hope awakened 
to give new courage to suffering souls, which shall sustain 
them to the end. 

Modern Spiritualism is then no new "Cultus," but 
rather a process in the develoj^ment of an old " Cultus," 
amounting in its fullness to a new Dispensation. The 
spirit world, with all its quickening influences for good 
and for evil, is brought close to the earth life. The evil 
influences come to tempt, to try, to judge, and be judged ; 
ministering spirits and angels come also, not in idle pas- 
time, but in serious, earnest endeavor to reach the hearts 
of those, who by inheritance, and their own contact with 
the exterior world, are hardened against the things of the 



66 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

spirit ; and the labor has been, and is, to lift humanity 
into a condition receptive to the blessed influences which 
they have brought with them, even the influences of the 
Holy Spirit. Thus are all men to be raised up to a 
higher plane of spiritual vision, so that they can see and 
comprehend the meaning of the Scriptures, which are 
illuminated by this increased light. The truths in the 
teachings of Jesus are now vitalizing to the conception 
of believers. There is no longer occasion for scholastic 
criticism, or learned intellectual disputations, on the 
meanings of words ; for the meaning intended to be con- 
veyed by them, their true spiritual power and influence, 
flows out into the receptive soul independently of the 
mere dress, the external form of its expression. As in 
the days of their utterance, the words of Jesus were 
heard, but not understood ; so in this latter day, their 
deep meaning, their full significance, their hidden power, 
their life-giving influence has not reached the individual 
hearts of the people, or never could the inconsistencies, 
and short-comings, be found in the modern Christian life 
to which we have referred. It is by opening the hearts 
of the men and women of this generation, so that having 
ears to hear, they may hear and comprehend, and carry 
out into practice, those very teachings of Jesus, that the 
revival of the ancient faith, the first great work of this 
new dispensation, is to be accomplished. Already has 
this work been begun with thousands of quiet Spiritual- 
ists, who are patiently waiting on the Lord ; whilst the 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 67 

ever active and forth putting influences of Ante-Christ 
have endeavored to fasten upon the cause, the stigma of 
Bible Infidelity. 

The power of this spirit influence is beginning to 
be made manifest in the development of knowledge 
of things spiritual, which is yet to be a wonder to the 
world. Only the germs of truth lie, more or less con- 
cealed, in the brief recorded teachings of Jesus. Germs 
of all truth they are, and first planted upon the earth 
sphere by him, through the grace of God, more than 
eighteen centuries ago. They have been all this while 
working their way through the crust of earth, their deli- 
cate points cleaving the hard-hearted soil in which they 
were set, and now, touched by the quickening rays of 
the returning Sun of righteousness, are beginning to 
send their branches out, and to spring forth to a growth, 
that shall be worthy of the long preparation. We are 
lost in contemplation of the possibilities of development 
in man's nature and surroundings, through his spiritual 
progression. These are, and will be, the natural growth 
of seeds already sown. They cannot pretend to be of 
any other, or higher origin than the early Christ germs ; 
but in their development, there should be expected, in 
all phases of being, really new manifestations, new 
thoughts, a new understanding of the various works of 
creation, new conceptions of the earth life and its rela- 
tions to the spirit world, which, as they spring forth, will 
arrange themselves, like new leaves in beautiful order, on 
the broad and ever spreading tree of knowledge. 



68 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

"We should be glad to explain our meaning more at 
length, but must content ourselves, for the present, with 
a brief reference to two exemplifications, from among 
the many which have come within our experience. The 
first of these, we find in a very beautiful and interesting 
manifestation of spirit presence and power, recently gi/en 
in our presence, through a Medium, whose own spiritual 
condition is a sad evidence, amongst the many we have 
known, that physical manifestations have in themselves 
no saving grace, no healing power, but are only the 
necessary means of breaking down the obstacles which 
in this day of materialism, prevent the access, and im- 
pede the growth, of a living faith. After several other 
experimental tests, not particularly interesting to us, 
though calculated to astonish, and at least puzzle, a fresh 
enquirer into the phenomena; a piece of plain white 
card board, which had been carefully marked so as to 
identify it, was placed in the left hand of one of the 
company who sat next to the Medium. In the right 
hand of the same person were placed three pencils, two 
of crayon, colored red and green, and one of common 
black lead, so that they extended horizontally over the 
card board, and about two inches above it. The card 
board and pencils, in the position described, were then 
held by the same person under the table, out of sight ; 
whilst the hands of all the others present were placed 
upon the table. Within half a minute, the card board 
was produced, and to the astonishment and delight of all, 
there appeared upon its before unsullied surface, a beautiful 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 69 

wreath, delicately drawn and colored, the vine and leaves 
in green, thick set with red roses in bud and full bloom, 
and within the wreath, finely written in black lead, but 
distinctly legible, a message of love signed by the name 
of a child, who was in the spirit world, unbeknown to 
the Medium, and to most of those present. Upon en- 
quiry, it appeared, that the pencils had remained during 
their concealment, in the same position as first placed, a 
slight vibration in them only having been recognized. 
Our theory of the process was, that the picture was first 
conceived complete in its spirit form, then brought near 
to the card board and pencils, so that the elements of 
color could be abstracted from the pencils, and, as it 
were, photographed upon the card board by a power, of 
which we as yet know nothing beyond this suggestion 
of its existence. We could not resist the further reflec- 
tion that in time to come, it may be long years yet, the 
relations of humanity to the spirit world might be so far 
changed and advanced, that this power could be brought 
into common practical use, in a way that would lift art 
to a pinnacle of power and beauty never before dreamed 
of. 

Our other exemplification is not an external mani- 
festation, but an internal unfolding. Through Modern 
Spiritualism we have arrived at an understanding of the 
origin, growth, and purpose of all earth life, of which we 
before had no conception. This understanding, like all 
our knowledge of things spiritual, apart from their phe- 
nomenal manifestations, is a natural out-growth in our 



70 MODERN" SPIRITUALISM. 

minds, stimulated into life by the influences with which 
we were first brought into communion through the per- 
son, to whose deep religious nature, and spiritual de- 
velopment, we have before referred.* Little by little, 
sometimes quite disconnectedly, with occasional direct 
promptings, have these thoughts come to us, and by slow 
degrees gathered to make a symmetrical, harmonious 
philosophy of nature, which we feel is very truth, for it 
is from God. Perhaps some of the ideas, possibly all of 
them, for we are yet in our childhood, just beginning to 
read the book of life, have been given to the world in 
days gone by ; but they come to us anew as inspiration, 
for which we thank only the Giver of all good gifts. 
Every growing thing on the earth plane has its spirit life 
and form, and is but the external expression of the spirit 
reality, the earthly habiliment of spirit life, made thus 
external, in order to be cognizable to humanity. Let us 
confine our observation to one phase of this external 
expression ; for instance, to vegetable life. We find then 
that the office of the earth-born flower is, not merely to 
delight the senses of man, and amuse his hours of idle- 
ness or recreation, but more than all, to throw upon him 
influences directly from the spirit life, of which it is the 
medium of expression to his earthly sense. In foi'm and 
color suggestive of harmony, they accomplish much ; but 
as mediums for the transmission, sometimes of a life- 
giving fragrance, and sometimes of a noxious poison, do 

* Page 26. 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 71 

the flowers of earth now appear to us as acting a most 
important part in the development of humanity. The 
odor is itself of spirit origin, and exists in spirit life, 
the flower being the naturally appointed agent, or me- 
dium, to express it on the earth plane. Herein we find 
an explanation of what has heretofore been an inexpli- 
cable mystery to the best of science, namely, how the 
fragrance could be continually given forth, a real essence 
filling the air, and yet no discoverable reduction, or 
abstraction, of the substance of the flower. The skillful 
anatomist has dissected these little creatures of God's 
love down into their most inmost recesses, where the 
odor seems to have its birth-place ; but the mystery is 
still unsolved, until we conceive the idea of fragrance 
existing first in the spirit life, and then poured through 
these delicate organisms of divine appointment, and 
made cognizable to human sense. The flower in fact 
gives nothing forth from itself, but is only the conduit, 
the beautiful medium for external expression of spirit life 
and power, and is able, be it never so tender and delicate, 
to continue its functions of transmission, whilst its natural 
life is prolonged. 

Let us carry this conception a little further. Does it 
not throw a flood of light upon the mystery of human 
life ? What are human beings, but the external expres- 
sions, upon the earth plane, of spirit forms and spirit 
life. What are we but mediums, all and each, in varying 
degrees, for the outward manifestation of good and evil 
influences, that are thrown into, and poured through us, 



72 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 



for the world's weal or woe ! In one respect we differ 
from the flower, and that is in the capability of our 
natures, in great measure to determine for ourselves, 
under the grace of God, whether we will continue to 
be channels for the communication of much evil, mingled 
Avith a little good, or whether we will become so purified, 
through the life that is in Christ, that none but pure 
influences shall be made manifest in our lives. The sub- 
ject is capable of indefinite extension. We leave it here, 
with the earnest prayer that all men may soon accept 
its deep significance, and ever remember, that it lies 
with each one to determine, whether he will draw from 
his surroundings, and give forth in his life, poisonous 
elements of evil ; or whether he will spread far and wide 
only such sweet, life-giving fragrance as the Father's 
love vouchsafes to dispense through him unto his race. 

But interesting, as we must admit such trains of thought 
have been, and are to our minds, they are like all philoso- 
phizing, insufficient food to satisfy those yearnings of the 
spirit which reach up after the Father's love, as its only true 
life. To drink from that fountain, " whose water shall be 
in those who drink it, a well of water springing up unto 
everlasting life," this should be the longing, as it is the 
greatest joy of the soul. We welcome then those influ- 
ences which will aid, as they have already aided many, 
in finding that fountain of living waters, by opening the 
heart and mind to a true reception and understanding 
of the teachings of Jesus. And especially would we 
remember, and try to comprehend the deep import of, 



MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 73 

that saying of the Master, "He that rejecteth me and 
receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him, 
the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him 
in the last day." We feel, we know, that these words 
have a significant application to this day and hour. 
Christ, the Master, calls us to look into ourselves, and 
out of our own mouths to save, or to condemn. The 
Bridegroom cometh, we know not the day, nor the hour ; 
but he cometh, and the angels are preparing the way. 
The evil that is in men must be eradicated, burned out 
from the face of the earth ; and it will be done, nay is 
doing now ; the elements are now gathering in for the 
final day, when God, through Christ, shall reign. As the 
lightning shineth from the East unto the West, so is 
the Christ influence now spreading, and spread, over the 
earth, quickening every good and evil element of life 
into new and unwonted activity. It is idle to attempt 
to fix any period according to our finite measure of time, 
when the culmination of these passing events shall be 
brought about. It may be many years yet : the processes 
of God's providence have ever been gradual in their 
development. We know not the day, nor the hour. 
We know, we can know, only the duties which each day 
and hour, as they come, bring with them; and this is 
enough, for it demands all our best energies to fulfil 
these duties with our whole heart. Under the Father's 
blessing, influences from the spirit world have now come 
to help us in their daily fulfilment, so that through a 
knowledge of God, we can say in very truth, in every 
4 



74 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 

moment of each day, that we are doing His will ; that 
His business is our business, and our business His ; that 
our great desire is to be humbly worthy to receive the 
blessed salutation from the Master, " well done good 
and faithful servant." Thus, and thus only, will the 
selfish ends of life be lost sight of; thus, will men labor 
at their daily avocations, not to earn the means to gratify 
their selfish desires, but to do God service. Thus will 
they be practically seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven ; 
and as surely as there is a living God, shall all necessary 
things, whether in their spiritual or material wants, be 
added unto them. 

Let us then, each and all, thank God for the new Dis- 
pensation, whose work is only commenced when men, 
through its influences, begin to understand truly, and to 
carry into practice, the teachings of the Holy Book. In 
other ways of its own is it bringing, and will it bring 
men to the fountain of life, from which it is itself an 
out-pouring, the sweet savor of whose waters shall entice 
all who drink of it to follow the living stream up to its 
living head. Behold! — that "pure River of Water of 
Life, clear as chrystal, proceeding out of the throne of 
God, and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of 
it, on either side of the river, is the Tree of Life : " 
* * * " And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of 
the Nations." 

January, 1863. 




\ 



\ 



\ 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Nov. 2004 

PreservationTechnologie 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATII 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 1 6066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




°13 412 715 6 



